Hatching apparatus.



C. S. FORBES.

HATCHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR 8, W16

1 ,285,971 I Patented Nov. 26, 1918..

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APPLICATION FILED MAR. 8. I916.

, Patented Nov. 26, 1918-.

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7// Witnesses C. S. FORBES. HATCHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 8. 1916.

1 ,285,971 I Patented Nov. 26, 1918;

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CHARLES STEWART FORBES, OF STRAT HDON, SCOTLAND.

HATCHING' APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters ratent.

Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

Application filed March 8,'l916. Serial No. 82,986.

To all whom it may concern: Be it linown that I, Sir CHARLES S'rnw- An'r FORBES, baronet, a subject of His Majesty the King of England, residin at Strathdon, in the county of Aberdeen, geotland, Kingdom of England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hatching Apparatus, of which the following is a specification. v

This invention relates to improvements in hatching appliances or incubators for hens or other eggs and it refers more specifically to deviceswof the kind comprising a box or casing which, is div'ded into three compartments by f,means of partitions, the two side compartments serving tocontain the heating devices and the intermediate compartment for the.--receptionof the eggs.

The present invention consists in the heating and ventilating arrangement according to which the airfentering the two side compartments fiow s npward past the heating devices and thewater inward over the upper edges of the partitions and down through the eggs, escaping fromthe intermediate egg compartment below the level of the said eggs'as hereinafter described.

The invention as designed for electric heating is hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in-

which Figure 1 is a front elevation of the improved appliance.

Fig. 2 is a plan view lid or cover;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation;

Figs. 4 and 5 are transverse sections taken respectively on the lines 4.4 and 5-5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a nections;

As shown the incubator consists of a recthereof without the diagram of the electrical contangular box or casing a made of wood or other suitable material and which is divided into three compartments a, a and a. The two narrow compartments a and a on each side contain the electric heaters b and the wide space a in the middle the I reach tothe top of the box a but leave a 1 space for air to pass say an inch between the upper edge of the box and the top of the partitions which latter are made easily movable. The box a is provided with a lid e hinged from the back at e and in construction may follow the usual practice in incubators. A frame f of wood or other similar material is mountedupon battens a fixed to the'front and back of the. box within the egg compartment a at a convenient distance from the bottom which frame f is covered with perforated metal sheet h. The frame f does not as will be seen from Fig. 5 extend the full width of the egg compartment but a space of'say two inches on each side is left to accommodate a roller z preferably made of wood, on each side. These rollers i are carried on spindles and are rovided with handles or milled edged disks j fixed to an extension of each spindle which passes through the front of the boxa.

'Upon these rollers and attached thereto at each end is a single bandof canvas or other suitable pervious material which when wound around both rollers rests on the perforated metal h, the eggs 0 being placed thereon. Thus by simply giving a turn to one of the disks y' all of the eggs can be reversed in the known manner at a single operation. For use during the first eighteen days of the hatching, another frame Z carrying erossstrips-m of thin wood or metal is supported above the space between The electrical heaters 12 are placed close to the bottom of the two side compartments a and a and are preferably formed of high resistance wire wound on a suitable fire proof insulator.

Air holes a are bored either in the bottom or quite low down in the sides of the heating spaces a, a to allow the air to'enter the incubator, and other outlet holes 0 are bored back and front in the walls of the incubator below the level of the eggs but above the level of the aforesaid inlet holes win the sides. The air thus, as shown by the arrows on the drawings, passes 1n below the their upper edges being almost level with the top of the partitions d between the-heat-- ing -compartment-s a a and the egg compartment a Thus the warmed air'takes up moisture from the water in the trays 1' and seeing that the temperature-decreases as the air descends in the egg compartment a the moisture becomes condensed on the eggs in proper "proportion to the state of the atmosphere' In order to control the temperature of the incubator with certainty and accuracy it is found advisable to increase. or diminish the amount of current passing through the heaters but not to. cut oil the current entirely at any time. vTo this end a regulating capsule orthermostaticcontrol devices of any well lfliown type is suspended from the lid e ofthe incubator so as to be placed just above the eggs and near" the center in the manner common to most incubators. A small steel rod t operated by the expansion of the regulating capsule s presses upward upon a regulating screw on a rocking arm-u which is pivotally mounted at p and carries a platinum or platinized contact piece M which contact piece'normally rests upon a second contact piece 2) and so arranged that when the above mentioned contacts are touching the full current passes from one of the terminals which may conveniently be arrangedon the lid e i I through the heaters b"and. alon,; ,.the"armluf to the other terminal, and the temperature in the incubator tends to 'rise. In parallel with this regulating device-andalso preferably on the outside of the'lid I" insert an electrical resistance 'w as indicated in Fig. 6 in such a manner that when the capsule s expands and separates the two contact pieces to and 'v on the regulator the electrical current instead of passing along the-arm "u is obliged to pass through the resistance to and the heating power of the heaters b i'sithereby reduced, the temperature in the incubator then tending to fall. In this manner the temperature can be accurately regulated without any sudden changes of temperature.

It'will be obvious that the connections between the thermostatic control device on the hinged lid and the electric heaters 12 must be Y made by means of flexible connections as also must be those between the supply mains and the terminals if the latter are placed on the lid.

Conveniently a small pilot lamp w may as shown be mounted inside the incubator and be connected by a switch across the terminals of the heaters b. This lamp 0: is therefore aflected by the'action of the regulator and indicates the action of the same, and can be the purpose of showing a light inside the in-.

cubator by'r neans of which the eggs can be inspected through glasswindows y in the front of the incubator without opening the lide.

It will thus be understood that with an appliance constructed according to the present invention vthe temperature can be regulated to a nicety'; further theeggsare never shaken when-the'lid is opened for-inspection 'pur' poses. The. damping arrangement. for the eggs gives a correct amount of moisture,- rendering the sprinkling of eggs with water unnecessary. When the incubator is opened for airing and turning-the egg sp'all foul air escapes, the egg turning arrangement'is simple and certain in its act on and also the mcubator can be very easily cleaned out after use.

1' It will be obvious that the improved'ap pliancecould be arranged by makingslight modifications for oil lamp, or hot water,'heat-- ing, in which case the capsule and regulating lever could be employed as at present but in the known manner for thepurpose of rais ing a damper-' 'jor dampers situated .onthe top of theheatin'g chambers, forming a by-pass and allowing the surplus heat to escape;

What I claim is:' A hatching appliance comprising a box having an airtight i-mper'forate base and an airtight cover, awpair of vertical partitions rising from the bottomof the box, with their upper ends spaced from'the cover, said partitions extending from one side of the box to the opposite side, and being spaced inwardly from the other two sides, thereby dividing the box into two side compartments and an intermediate compartment, electric heating devices arranged within each of the two side compartments above the base, water troughs;

in the side compartments above the heatmg devices, a perforated sheet, a single band of pervious material resting on the said sheet, said sheet with said band thereonbeing located within the intermediate compartment for supporting the eggs above the bottom. of said compartment, and means for moving said band for the purpose of reversing the eggs when required, the side compartments having air inlets arranged in the sides of the box from one end thereof to the other and below the level of the heating devices, but above the base, the intermediate o'mpare ment having air outlets through the other two sides of the box below the level of the supporting sheet and pervious band and also above the base.

In testimony whereof l have signed my name to this specification.

GHARLES STEWART FORBES. 

